William Edward Cook American mass murderer Date of Birth: 23.12.1928 Country: USA

Biography of William Edward Cook

William Edward Cook was an American mass murderer born in Joplin, Missouri. When he was just 5 years old, his mother passed away, and his father took his children to an abandoned mine, leaving them with only a small amount of food. The local authorities soon found the children, but William was not adopted due to his severely damaged eye and aggressive behavior, which scared off potential adoptive parents.

For some time, William was taken care of by official organizations, but eventually, a foster mother was found for him. However, she showed little interest in him and focused more on the financial support she received for his care. Left unsupervised, William began stealing and was arrested for truancy. When he appeared in court at the age of 12, he openly stated his preference for a correctional facility over another foster home. He spent several years under arrest and was later transferred to the Missouri State Penitentiary at the age of 17.

Even in prison, William continued to display aggressive behavior, attacking another inmate with a baseball bat. In 1950, he was released from prison and returned to Joplin, where he briefly reunited with his father. From Joplin, William traveled to the town of Blythe, where he worked as a dishwasher for a while. By the end of December 1950, he quit his job and traveled east, stopping in El Paso, Texas, to acquire a revolver.

On December 30th, a Texan mechanic named Lee Archer picked up hitchhiking William on the road. However, William robbed Archer and locked him in the trunk of his own car, from which Archer managed to escape. Soon, the car ran out of gas, and William resumed pretending to be a hitchhiker. The next person to pick him up was farmer Carl Mosser, who was traveling to New Mexico with his wife, three children, and a dog. Under the threat of William's gun, Carl was forced to drive aimlessly for 72 hours. In the end, Mosser attacked William, but failed to overpower him. William shot Carl, his entire family, including the dog, and hid their bodies in an abandoned mine near Joplin.

There was enough evidence to link William Cook to the murders, and the police quickly identified him and began hunting him. Deputy Sheriff Homer Waldrip managed to track down William but failed to arrest him and became his hostage instead. However, William spared Waldrip due to the kindness shown by Homer's wife, Cecilia, towards him in the past. The next unwitting driver, Robert Dewey, had less luck. The search for William had by then reached a global scale, but it did not prevent the maniac from taking two more hostages and fleeing to Mexico. He was arrested in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia when the local police chief miraculously recognized him and calmly arrested him. William was extradited to the United States, where he stood trial. Surprisingly, he was officially charged with only one murder, that of Robert Dewey, which was enough to sentence him to the gas chamber. William Cook was executed on December 12, 1952, at San Quentin Prison, and his body was buried in his hometown of Joplin.